About Karuneegar

INTRODUCTION:'Karuneegar' is a caste in TamilNadu, India. They are sometimes called as "kanakku pillai" which means "accountant" or "book keeper" in Tamil.

About Karuneegar:

About 2000 years ago,during vallalar Pandiyan period Seer Karuneegar Puranam was written by poet Paarisanadhar. In sanskrit other books about Karuneegar are the following:

• Bramanda Puranam

• Adithya Puranam

• Saurakadha

• Atharva veda surya sagasandhi

• Kanaka smrithi.

Sub-sectors in Karuneegar:

• Seer Karunnegar

• Sarattu Karuneegar

• Kaikatum Karuneegar

• Atharva veda suryasagasandhi

• Madhvazhi Karuneegar

The presiding God in the temple is Chitraguptar and the consort of the presiding God is Karnikaambaal. This temple is situated in Kanchipuram. The consort of the presiding God (Lord Chitragupta) is named Karnikambal. There are separate holy places in the temple devoted to God Selva Vinayaka, Goddess Vishnu Durga and the nine holy planets. It is a very popular temple. It is a temple devoted to Lord Chitragupta who is the next rightful heir to the throne of Lord Kethu. It is a temple known for removing the defects caused by the impact of Kethu on a person. This temple is the only sacred place devoted to Lord Chitraguptar. There is an idol in the sanctum- sanctorum of the temple (of Lord Chitragupta). The idol presents Lord Chirtragupta sitting his divine seat holding a nail (used for writing on palm leaves) in his right hand and a palm leaf on his left hand.

When the temple festival is held to mark the full- moon day in the Tamil month of Chithirai there is a grand marriage procession of the Lord and his consort Karnikambal. Lord Chitragupta, the presiding God in the temple hails from the Sun God. He maintains a record of good and evil deeds of all creatures of the world including mankind) and assists the God of Death in his divine work.

Lord Chitraguptar belongs to our karuneegar caste. In Shiva temple the accountant made some mistakes in accounts and he was caught by the king. At that time,Lord Shiva appeared as accountant and saved the treasurer. In olden period MANIMEGALAI, SEETHALAI SATHANAR,NAKEERAR also belong to karuneegar caste. Vinayagar wrote"MAHABHARATHAM" story and he got a name as Pillaiyar. So our main occupation is accountant from olden days.

DIVISIONS:

It has following divisions

• Seer Karuneegar

• Sri Karuneegar

• Sarattu Karuneegar

• Kaikatti Karuneegar

• Madhuvazhi Kanakkar

• Sozhi Kanakkar

• Sunnambu Karuneegar

BELIEFS:

Karuneegars believe that they are descendants of Chitragupta. His wife is Karnagi Amman. Karuneegars are part of Kayastha family. The history of the Karuneegars are recorded in Karuneegar Puranam. There is a temple for Chitra Gupta in Kanchpuram.

Seer Karuneegar:

Seer Karuneegar is a sub caste or part of Karuneegar Caste. There are no further divisions of this sub caste.

PRACTICES

The people who belong to the Seer Karuneegar community are devotees of Vallalar, a famous Sant who lived inVadalur and preached against eating meat.

He wrote the Thiru-Arut-pa, which preaches the worship of a divine power in the form of a flame and also teaches self discipline for human beings.

LOCATIONS:

They are mainly concentrated in Tamil Nadu. But they are also located in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and other states.

Tamil Nadu:

Karuneegar Population varies in different districts of Tamil Nadu. It is believed that Karuneegars are more concentrated in northern districts of Tamil Nadu. The south Tamil nadu have many Pillai but they are not thought to belong to Karuneegars.

Andhra Pradesh:

In Andhra Pradesh, they are called Karnams. They speak Telugu as well as Tamil esp. Chittoor region.

Karnataka:

Some Karuneegars are predominantly found in Southern Districts of Karnataka.

Kerala:

They are also found in Kerala. Typically Menons are Karuneegars of Kerala.

Other States:

They also inhibit various parts of India like mumbai, delhi and other states of India.

World Wide :

There are also Karuneegars who live in US,UK,Australia and other countries.

OCCUPATION :

Occupation varies by people. Karuneegars mostly followed Accountancy/Mathematics in old times. These days they are in different occupations. Mathematics is natural in blood. Some of the subcaste named 'kanakkar' which is meaned in Tamil as " Mathematician "

ANCESTRY & CASTE

Introduction:

The Ancestry is concluded with various perspectives. Different Relationships in different ways.

Related by honorary title name "Pillai" & caste towards other divisions/communities of pillai. Related by Saivism with other subdivisions known to be "Saiva Pillai". Related by the blood towards "Kayastha and its divisions". The Relationships should not be confused.

Kayastha :

Kayastha is the mother caste of Karuneegar. There are also striking similarities like worship of Chitragupta etc. Both Kayastha and Karuneegar caste believe that they are descendants of Chitragupta (Please see Beliefs listed above). Kayastha's origin are believed to be brahmins who practiced kshatriya by occupation. Karuneegar Sangams has articles which confirm Karuneegar caste's lineage in Kayastha.

There are indirect conclusions which can be drawn based on certain references. The Karuneegars are known as Karnams in Andhra Pradesh. There is a caste named Karanam or Karana in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa whose primary jobs are village head or village accountants. This Karana is part of Kayastha according to Kayastha community and Karana community. The surnames of Karana are Patnaik etc. which are recognized as part of Kayastha community.

Saiva Pillai :

It is claimed that Karuneegar is a part of Saiva Pillai. Saiva Pillai is a part of big Pillai community. But there are also claims that Karuneegar itself a separate community of Pillai instead falling under Saiva Pillai. See Pillai, Karuneegar & Matrimony below

Pillai, Karuneegar & Matrimony:

Karuneegar Pillai is one of the classifications of Pillai according to matrimonial services. The listing is seen as Pillai--> Karuneegar, eg. KM Matrimony (Kalyanamaalai).

Pillai, Karuneegar & Kayastha:

It is said that pillai itself a part of Kayastha which is questionable to some people. Pillai started as title but it became a separate community. There are controversies whether whole pillai community is part of kayastha. Some people said, only karuneegar is part of kayastha which received 'pillai' title (the honorary title) name in old times resulting as a community name 'Karuneegar Pillai'.

Kayastha's Misconception of considering Whole Pillai:

According to Kayastha, which recognizes the communities by surname mistakenly considers people with pillai surname as Kayastha. This confusion comes because castes are recognized by surnames in North India. So Kayastha mistakenly considers people with pillai as Kayastha. However the system in Southern India is different. Different castes received title names making it a different. So Karuneegars have Pillai as surname. Pillai originated as title name as people were honoured for the excellence in the courts of kings. So do some of the castes received title name which was confused to family name by kayastha. Moreover only Karuneegars have the beliefs of Kayastha and other commonness. The other divisions of pillai doesn't worhsip chitragupta and people of other divisions doesn't have commonness with kayastha. The Karuneegars' closest relatives are karnams who are related to kayastha as well.

So Only Karuneegar division of Pillai is the true Kayastha and not the other divisions of Pillai

Conclusion:

In Short Karuneegars are Pillais by honorary title, Saiva Pillai by Saivism, Kayasthas by blood.Karuneegars belong to Pillai caste, recognized as Saiva Pillais and considered as a part of Kayastha. They are known to belong to all these three different ones.

Sutramulu and Gothras

The information regarding Sutramulu/Sutras, the Vedas they followed and the number of gothras in each Sutram is given below. There are six Sutras.

1. Aapasthamba Sutram, the Veda is Krishna Yajurvedam and number of Gothras are 10.

2. Asvalayana Sutram, the Veda is Rugvedam and the number of Gothras are 11.

3. Thrahyayana Sutram, the Veda is Adarvana Vedam and the number of Gothras are 11.

4. Kathyayana Sutram, the Veda is Adarvana Vedam and the number of Gothras are 11.

5. Bodhayana Sutram, the Veda is Samavedam and the number of Gothras are 11.

6. Vaikhanasa Sutram,the Veda is Adarvana Vedam and the number of Gothras 10.

• There are 64 Gothras in Seer Karuneegar caste.

• Each Sutra contains 11 or 10 Gothras and also mentions the Vedas they followed.

• There is also mention of 5.5 or 6.0 Pangu or Bagamulu(Divisions) related to Gothras.

• All the Gothras in Sutras: Thrahyayan, Kathyayana and Bodhayana belong to 5.5. Pangu

• All the Gothras in Sutras: Aapasthamba, Asvalayana and Vaikhanasa belong to 6.0 Pangu.

The number of Gothras in each Sutra are listed below.

Gothras of Aapasthamba Sutram

• Athri Maharshi

• Alachala Maharshi

• Kathaka Maharshi

• Niranga Maharshi

• Anjali Maharshi

• Agasthya Maharshi

• Kurava Maharshi

• Vakrutha Maharshi

• Angidha Maharshi

• Ashtakona Maharshi

Traditionally, those in 6.0 pangu are considered as 'pangaligal' or cousins within the gothrams and marriage from one gothram to another within 6.o pangu is taboo. So also is the case with 5.5 pangu. However, of late people do not strictly follow the gothram and cross marriage within the two groups became common, especially in Tamil Nadu.

Gothras of Asvalayana Sutram

• Vyaghra Maharshi

• Vamadeva Maharshi

• Bhrugu Maharshi

• Sprugu Maharshi

• Gouthama Maharshi

• Aurulala Maharshi

• Dhunmuka Maharshi

• Parasara Maharshi

• Sthula Maharshi

• Adhimuni Maharshi

• Dhurvasa Maharshi

Gothras of Thrahyayana Sutram

• Vedavyasa Maharshi

• Padhalochana Maharshi

• Sanathkumara Maharshi

• Jamadhagni maharshi

• Salya Maharshi

• Divyanga Maharshi

• Seera Maharshi

• Jaya Maharshi

• Kalaba Maharshi

• Gowda Maharshi

• Pathanjali Maharshi

Gothras of Kathyayana Sutram

• Kapila Maharshi

• Kanva Maharshi

• Raada Maharshi

• Pushpaka Maharshi

• Rishyashruanga Maharshi

• Sathya Maharshi

• Bhugala Maharshi

• Priyavakya Maharshi

• Roma Maharshi

• Shivamitra Maharshi

• Kamandala Maharshi

Gothras of Bodhayana Sutram

• Munjakesha Maharshi

• Shivayoga Maharshi

• Shuka Maharshi

• Bhujanga Maharshi

• Kashyapa Maharshi

• Sutha Maharshi

• Gomuni Maharshi

• Naradha Maharshi

• Viswamitra Maharshi

• Meenava Maharshi

• Bharadhwaja Maharshi

Gothras of Vaikhanasa Sutram

• Janaka Maharshi

• Pararuchi Maharshi

• Madhava Maharshi

• Vindu Maharshi

• Vashishta Maharshi

• Markanda Maharshi

• Manu Maharshi

• Valmiki Maharshi

• Deva Maharshi

• Mareechi Maharshi

LEGENDS & PERSONALITIES

Vallalar:

Vallalar is also known as ramalinga swamigal. Vallalar was a great saint who lived in Tamil Nadu.

Vivekananda:

Swami Vivekananda is a Kayastha by birth, and beyond religion by thoughts.

Karnam Malleswari:

Malleswari is the first woman olympic medallist of India and only Indian medallist in the Sydney Olympics 2000.

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